Elsevier regrets faux journals

Elsevier came under fire for a series of deceptive publications published in Australia between 2000 and 2005. The six journals in question, published by Elsevier's Excerpta Medica, resembled legitimate journals, but were in fact sponsored compilations created “on behalf of pharmaceutical clients…and lack[ing] the proper disclosures,” said Michael Hanson, CEO of Elsevier's health sciences division, in a statement. “This was an unacceptable practice, and we regret that it took place.”

One of the journals, Australasian Journal of Bone and Joint Medicine, was allegedly produced entirely by Merck to promote Vioxx, according to a report in The Australian.

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